


I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love

by DeiLove



Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Canon Divergence - Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America Steve Rogers, M/M, Minor Character Death, Post-Avengers (2012), Steve Rogers understands modern technology, Steve and Bucky didn't grow up together, Winter Soldier Bucky Barnes, slight crack
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-20
Updated: 2018-05-20
Packaged: 2019-05-09 12:05:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,811
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14715716
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeiLove/pseuds/DeiLove
Summary: Steve Rogers isn't as hopeless with modern technology as Stark believes. He uses all the free time on his hands to snoop around in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s systems, where he tumbles upon Hydra, then the Winter Soldier. He quickly decides that the Soldier would be a perfect partner in going after Hydra, and soon they are working together against the old Nazi science division.





	I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love

**Author's Note:**

> I finished something, yay!  
> I am Hungarian, let me know if I made a mistake so I can fix it.  
> T for minor violence and swearing.  
> Also, Bucky was born in 1917, but he didn't meet Steve when they were kids. They first met when Steve saved him at Azzano but Bucky didn't become a Howling Commando, and was captured by Hydra some time after Steve crashed the plane into the ocean.  
> Title from MCR's album of the same name

Everyone thought Steve Rogers was hopeless with modern technology, or at least almost everyone. In reality, it took him about a year after the Battle of New York to find some really strange phenomena within S.H.I.E.L.D.’s systems which prompted him to take matters into his own hands.

It started right after the battle. S.H.I.E.L.D. didn’t bother catching him up on technology apart from giving him a few books on the topic, so he decided to look into it himself. He quickly figured out computers and the Internet, and soon he was snooping around in S.H.I.E.L.D.’s systems with the help of some of Tony’s inventions. The billionaire of course didn’t know Steve had them, and he didn’t even seem to notice they were missing.

Originally, Steve only wanted to learn a bit more about the agency Peggy helped set up, but then it became sort of a hobby. It was a challenge, and Steve Rogers never turned down a challenge.

This all led to his current situation. He found some disconcerting information that made him believe Hydra wasn’t as gone as he’d been told. He’d already been wary about S.H.I.E.L.D., but after his findings, he decided to distance himself even further.

He mulled over it for a few days, and then decided he wasn’t enough to deal with it all. He couldn’t trust S.H.I.E.L.D. and didn’t want to involve the Avengers because of the publicity that would arise, so it had to be someone from the outside. Or someone who had reason to hate Hydra as much as he did.

It took about two more weeks to find the files of the Winter Soldier. Taken prisoner in the second world war, brainwashed into Hydra’s pet assassin, and then going missing in the 1990s, he was probably Steve’s best shot at a partner in this mess. The only problem was that he’d disappeared in 1991.

Steve dug up everything he could find about the man, and after he looked through most of the intelligence community’s information – however classified and encrypted – he thought he knew how to reach him.

He called two days later, from a burner phone he got for this very purpose. He went out to the small park a few blocks from his apartment because he didn’t trust his apartment was free from bugs, even though he’d already gotten rid of every bug he could find. Luckily, people usually didn’t recognize him out of the uniform, and the park wasn’t ever crowded.

The other picked up on the third ring with a sharp ‘What?’

‘I have a job I’d like to hire you for,’ Steve said without preamble. He had manners, but he thought straightforward would be a better approach in this case.

‘Right. Details in person, then I’ll decide if I take the job, and if yes, half of the fee is to be paid in advance.’

‘Alright. Tomorrow afternoon works for you?’ Steve asked.

‘2 o’clock is good. And I’d prefer Brooklyn.’

‘Good,’ Steve said, then suggested to meet up at the park he was at right now, and the other agreed.

‘You didn’t tell me a name,’ the other remarked.

‘It’s Steve. I’m not giving my full name yet, you can run a background-check after we met up.’

‘Right. Call me Zima. And see you tomorrow.’ They both gave a short description of themselves so they’d recognize each other, though Steve knew he didn’t need it. He’d seen enough pictures of Zima in the files.

Steve spent the rest of the day going over the possible targets again, but still couldn’t choose. He would decide based on Zima’s behaviour and reactions, he thought to himself.

The next day, he was a bit fidgety, like he was before a mission. He woke up early, went on a morning run that lasted over two hours, which was weird even for him, and then actually cooked lunch instead of just ordering in. It helped soothe his nerves, and by the time he had to leave, he wasn’t so jittery.

He saw Zima as soon as he got to the park. The man sat on one of the benches, seemingly just enjoying the warmth of the sunlight, but Steve could see how he tensed slightly the next moment. That told Steve that Zima saw him, so he walked over.

‘Zima, I presume?’ Steve greeted, offering his hand for a handshake.

‘And you’re Steve?’ Zima said, taking the offered hand. He then gestured to the bench, and Steve sat down next to him. ‘So, what would it be?’

‘Would you run if I said I actually have a list?’

‘If they don’t mean too much trouble and you pay me in time, I’d probably shoot every other New Yorker.’

‘I can’t promise anything on the trouble side, some of them are political figures. But I will pay more for the more troublesome kills.’

‘Who’s the first on the list?’ Zima asked, a strange look in his eyes. Steve wasn’t sure how to read that.

‘Let’s say Jack Rollins, for warm-up.’ Zima nodded. ‘I don’t ask you to decide right now, think it over, and get back to me.’

‘Okay.’ Zima looked at him for a long moment. ‘I only have one question. Why does Captain America need an assassin?’

‘Because he cannot trust the people around him,’ Steve answered with a raised eyebrow. ‘And I’m not Captain America the propaganda figure. I’m Steve Rogers, Brooklyn boy and self-righteous asshole, as some of my old pals would describe me.’

‘Right. Give me a day or two, and I’ll call you.’

‘Okay. I might not answer right away, because my apartment is bugged, and I’d rather not have that conversation where S.H.I.E.L.D. can overhear it.’

Zima nodded, then stood up. He and Steve shook hands, then went their separate ways.

*

Steve was in the grocery store the next day when Zima called him. He put his phone between his shoulder and ear, debating what vegetables to buy.

‘Hey,’ he greeted.

‘So, I looked into things and I’ll take the job,’ Zima told him. ‘Where are you? Can you talk details?’

‘I’m at the store. What details do you mean? I don’t really care as long as it’s not too obvious what happened,’ he shrugged, even though Zima couldn’t see it.

‘That’s what I meant. So I get to play around however I’d like to?’ Steve hummed in agreement. ‘Nice. Okay, fee’s fifty thousand in advance, fifty more after confirmation. I’ll send you my account details.’

‘Sounds good to me. Though I gotta admit, I expected it to cost more,’ Steve said absentmindedly, packing up a couple of apples.

‘Don’t worry, price will increase with the difficulty of the job. If you want me to take out politicians, that will cost closer to a million.’

‘Great. Any discount for regulars?’ Steve joked.

‘You really are serious about this, aren’t you?’ Zima sighed. ‘How long are you planning to employ me?’

‘Well, my list is quite long. It might take months, maybe even years, if the circumstances don’t change.’

‘If the- Seriously, you work with spies and assassins. Why don’t you go to them?’ Zima asked incredulously.

‘Because many of them are on the list.’

‘What?! No, you know what, I don’t want to know. Transfer the fifty, and I’ll do the job within a week.’ He didn’t wait for an answer, just hung up.

Steve looked at the phone, an amused smile playing on his lips. He silently debated if he should just tell Zima he knew about Hydra but decided against it. Maybe after a few more jobs.

*

The confirmation of the kill came three days later in the form of a very angry Brock Rumlow. Steve was called in for a quick mission, and Rumlow’s team was to be his back-up.

Except the team was missing a member.

‘Where’s Rollins?’ Steve asked them and got a glare from Rumlow for his trouble.

‘Six feet underground.’

‘What happened?’ Steve was curious, because Zima hadn’t yet told him about it.

‘Went skydiving, parachute didn’t work.’ Rumlow grunted. ‘And there’s nobody to sue because that idiot went alone, with his own gear.’

Steve hummed something that Rumlow could misinterpret as condolence, and made a mental note to transfer the rest of the fee to Zima.

Next morning, the assassin called him while he was getting breakfast at the little café a few blocks from his apartment.

‘Morning,’ he greeted Zima.

‘I got the second half of the fee,’ he stated, and Steve understood the question it meant.

‘Yeah, got confirmation from his team leader, and I only care about the result. If it really was an accident, well, lucky you.’

‘It wasn’t, and hadn’t it been so satisfying to see him fall off that cliff, I’d charge you extra for how troublesome it was. I hope you don’t want to give me another job right away. Actually, I’m not taking another job for the next week. Not even for Captain America.’ He snorted.

‘You know I could easily pay the extra,’ Steve noted, then took a large bite of his pancakes. ‘Also, you don’t need to glare at me from the other side of the street, if you’re hungry, I’ll buy you breakfast. Just stop looming there. It’s creepy.’

Zima snorted again, but hung up and crossed the street to join Steve in the café.

*

It became a habit for them. Steve would go to one of the cafés or diners after his morning run and Zima would join him sometime later. At first they got strange looks because of the amount of food they both consumed, but soon the waiters and baristas got used to it. They still received the occasional disapproving glance from other patrons, but they just laughed at them.

Zima took one job every week, and Steve added more names to his list as he kept digging through the files. Steve was sometimes away on missions, and whenever the occasion arose, he himself took out some Hydra agents. Still, his list grew longer and longer.

About a month into their acquaintanceship, Zima told Steve to call him Bucky. He didn’t offer an explanation as to why, and Steve didn’t ask. They also started to have breakfast at Steve’s apartment, cooking for themselves. As it turned out, Bucky should never try to make pancakes, but his scrambled egg and omelets were to die for.

Then they started spending whole days together, only saying goodbye for the night. Bucky would sometimes join Steve for his morning run, and more and more often, they spent the afternoon and the evening on Steve’s couch, bingeing Netflix and eating take-out. Steve now considered them good friends, though Bucky was probably his only friend in this century, which was saying something. He also felt increasingly guilty about not telling Bucky he knew about Hydra, and started looking for the right occasion to talk to him about it.

Of course, Bucky solved that problem for him when he came back from another job, a bit bloody and a lot pissed. He’d just taken out an asshole named Garrett, who’d been tougher than he’d looked. But he was now fish food.

Bucky walked into Steve’s apartment without a knock – with how many times he’d crashed on the couch, he practically lived here –, kicked off his boots, dropped his duffel back on the floor, and stalked into the bathroom. Steve barely looked up from his laptop, but then his brows rose to his hairline.

‘What the hell happened to you?’

‘Asshole put up quite the fight,’ Bucky grunted, coming to sit next to the blond with the first aid kit in his left hand.

‘Told you to forget hand-to-hand,’ Steve said disapprovingly, but shut his laptop and helped clean the blood off Bucky. He only had a few small cuts, but Steve knew they must have healed a lot already.

‘I seriously don’t understand why you’re targeting them. And why you hired me, exactly.’

Steve didn’t say anything for a few minutes, just kept washing the blood off Bucky’s skin. Then he looked up.

‘Y’know, I thought you’d notice a pattern.’

‘Well, I have my suspicions, but you probably don’t know what I know.’

‘Yeah?’ Steve asked, sending him an amused smile. ‘Stark might think I’m incompetent when it comes to modern technology, but Stark’s an idiot. And S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn’t exactly have what you’d call great security. Or I should say Hydra, really.’

Bucky froze for a moment, but then let out a small laugh. ‘So you didn’t accidentally stumble upon my ad, did you?’

‘Well, I accidentally stumbled upon your Hydra file.’ Steve shrugged, gathering up the waste and taking it to the trashcan. ‘I dug some more, and thought you’d make a great partner in destroying Hydra.’

‘Yet I do all the dirty work.’

‘Nah, I crossed a couple of names off the list myself, whenever I could get away with it. And I’m keeping some of them for myself, like Rumlow.’ He sat back down next to Bucky, opening his laptop and going back to his research.

‘Okay, I know we got rid of the bugs, but I haven’t swept the place in over a week, they could have planted more. We probably shouldn’t discuss this here.’

‘I checked after I came back from my run.’

Bucky hummed, then turned on Netflix and started the next episode of How I Met Your Mother. ‘Thinking of it, your lack of questions after you first saw my arm should have been a clue. And when you didn’t ask about my name. And you trusted me too easily, like you knew something I didn’t.’ He laughed, throwing his head back.

Steve shot him an amused smirk, relieved that Bucky didn’t make a fuss. ‘Hey, how do you feel about going after the secretary of S.H.I.E.L.D.?’

‘Nooo, Stevie,’ Bucky groaned, slumping in his seat. ‘I just got back, and Pierce is too much trouble.’

‘I didn’t mean right now.’ Steve laughed at him. ‘And I want to be there when Pierce goes down. But here’s this new project, Project Insight, and it doesn’t look good.’

‘Insight? Like, the one with the helicarriers?’

‘Yeah. We’d need a team for that, though. I’m pretty sure Fury and Hill aren’t Hydra.’

‘Romanova either. She won’t be too happy to see me, but we’ll deal.’ At Steve’s raised eyebrow, he added, ‘Red room. I trained her for a while when she was still just a kid.’

‘Right. I’ll try to get Hawkeye to join, though he might be busy with family. I’d rather not have Stark involved, he can’t do subtle.’

‘What about your fake nurse neighbor?’

‘Sharon Carter?’ Steve snorted. ‘She’s Peggy’s niece, I’m sure she’s not Hydra, or I’ll strangle her myself.’

‘Wow, you are good. I mean, even I didn’t know that.’

‘Thanks.’ He grinned at Bucky. ‘I checked her out after she moved here. The way she tried to flirt with me gave her away.’

‘So, not a fan of people flirting with you?’

‘Not a fan of people whose job is to keep an eye on me flirting with me. Anyway, what do you want to eat?’

‘Chinese. Or a pizza. Maybe both.’

Steve just laughed and ordered enough for a small army.

‘Oh, before I forget, I’ll wire the money.’

Bucky groaned. ‘C’mon, you gotta stop with that. If we’re taking on Hydra, we’re doing it as partners. No more paying me.’

‘But-,’ Steve tried to object, but Bucky cut him off.

‘No. Pal, do you have any idea how much money you’ve already paid me? A lot. Millions. I don’t need your money.’ When Steve tried to protest again, he added, ‘You can buy me food, though.’

‘Because it’s not like you already eat all my food and practically live here,’ Steve retorted, then shook his head. ‘I don’t understand why you don’t just move into the spare room.’

‘No space for my weapons,’ Bucky said, dismissing the idea. ‘And S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel just come and go, whenever they see fit. No thanks.’

He wasn’t wrong. Only a few days prior, Bucky woke up to an agent coming into the apartment. Bucky reflexively threw the knife he always had under his pillow at the man, which lodged in the man’s throat. Luckily, he’d been working for Hydra, and the body was gone by the time Steve got back from his morning run.

‘Anyway. How are we gonna deal with Project Insight?’ Bucky asked. Steve didn’t call him out on the change of subject, and they started planning.

*

About a week later, Steve was asked (ordered) to stay in DC for a while. Bucky, of course, went with him. So did Sharon, the fake nurse from across the hall.

A few days later, Steve and Bucky went on a morning run together, where they met Sam Wilson. It took Bucky about two minutes to recognize the guy, then he and Steve were running as fast as they could, passing Wilson about every ten minutes. When Wilson finished his run, they too stopped, introducing themselves.

‘I kinda put that together,’ he told Steve. ‘Sam Wilson, 58th pararescue.’

‘EXO-7 Falcon, right?’ Bucky asked. ‘You did Bakhmala.’

‘How do you know that? It’s classified.’ Wilson eyed him warily, but Bucky just smirked.

‘Buck,’ Steve warned, then turned to Wilson. ‘He’s working in intelligence, sorta.’

‘And most classified stuff is easy to steal,’ Bucky added, smirking. ‘Like, did you know that the RPG that shot your friend Riley out of the sky was fired by Americans?’

‘Buck, seriously.’

‘No, really! It was Hydra, of course, though given that half of the government is Hydra, it should be obvious.’

‘Okay, Buck, really?’ Steve sighed, then told Wilson,’ Sorry. He’s usually not like that.’

‘Who is he, anyway?’

‘Friend and partner. We’re currently working on something together.’

‘Working for the alphabet agencies, huh?’

‘Nope, freelance assassin.’ Bucky grinned, his hands on his hips. ‘Also, don’t trust the alphabet agencies.’

Wilson looked at Bucky with a wary expression, and then shook his head. He muttered something that sounded like ‘I don’t even want to know’ but they were interrupted by a car horn.

‘Hey fellas! Either of you know where the Smithsonian is? I’m here to pick up a fossil,’ a smoky voice said, and Bucky didn’t even need to turn to her to recognize it as Natalia Romanova’s. He kept looking straight ahead at Wilson. Romanova was good, but she hadn’t seen him since she was like six, and he wanted more control over the situation when they would inevitably meet again. The hair helped, he mused.

Steve quickly got into the car, waving at Bucky and Wilson, then the two were off.

‘Wanna grab breakfast?’ Bucky asked with a charming smile.

‘I should probably get back to my fiancé,’ Wilson told him. ‘He’ll be worried.’

‘We can do breakfast at your place, if that’s what you want,’ Bucky shrugged his shoulders. ‘Then you could immediately consult him about what I wanna tell you.’

‘Which would be?’ Wilson asked, taking a step back.

‘Stevie and I could use your help. Or the Falcon’s, whatever. You were basically a legend before you got out, and we’ll need the best if we’re gonna take on Hydra.’

‘Like the Nazi science division?’ Wilson asked disbelievingly. ‘I thought they were gone.’

‘They should be, and so should I. But you can see I’m still here.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘First time, I got lucky, that red, white and blue punk freed me when I’d been captured in 1943 in Azzano. Second time, he was already sleepin’ in the ice. But they say the third time is the charm, so I’m givin’ it one last chance.’

Wilson still didn’t look convinced, but after a few moments, he nodded stiffly. ‘Okay. You can have breakfast with us and tell me what it is you need.’

‘Great! Just let me grab some food first, I don’t wanna eat all a’ yours, Sammy.’ Bucky grinned at him, then started walking towards the small diner he and Steve had found the previous day.

*

Bucky was lounging on the living room floor, watching yet another episode of How I Met Your Mother, when Steve got back from the mission. He didn’t even manage to get out a greeting before the blond was plopping down on the couch, growling slightly. He wasn’t in uniform, but his shield was still on his back, even laying on the sofa.

‘Okay, pal, what’s with the growling? You’re not a goddamn dog.’

‘Project Insight. You remember the Lemurian Star?’

‘Shit. They’re speedin’ things up?’

’Yeah. A pirate named Batroc highjacked it, and I’m pretty sure Fury hired him. He must suspect something. But guess who was on the ship?’

‘Who? Some Hydra goon? Not Rumlow, nor- Was it Sitwell?’ Bucky asked, incredulously.

‘Yup. Natasha downloaded the data, but I don’t have it.’ Steve sighed. ‘We need to put the team together.’

‘I already started that,’ Bucky said, grinning widely. ‘Sammy and his fiancé are in. You talk to Romanova.’

Steve shook his head at him, but at last seemed to relax. Bucky finally got up from the floor, went in the kitchen for two bottles of beer, and gave one to Steve. He grabbed the shield and put in on the floor, then sat down next to the other man. Steve slumped on his shoulder as he took a sip from his beer.

‘Please tell me we can watch something else.’

‘Sure thing, pal.’

*

The next morning, they had brunch with Sam and Riley, then went grocery shopping. They were both on alert the whole time, and they even spotted a few Hydra goons, but none of them seemed to notice them.

When they got back to the apartment, they ran into Sharon.

‘Hey, Steve,’ she greeted after finishing her phone call.

‘Hey, Kate.’

‘Really, Stevie?’ Bucky asked, raising an eyebrow. ‘We gonna do that?’

‘Um,’ Sharon looked at Bucky, then back at Steve. ‘You left the music on. I should go wash my laundry.’

‘Do you now, Kate? Or rather, Agent 13?’ Bucky stared at her with an amused grin.

‘Buck.’

‘What? She hasn’t shot you yet. Better, she hasn’t shot me yet. She’s not Hydra.’

‘Hydra?’

‘Go back to the apartment. Whoever put that music on wanted to warn us. I bet it’s Fury,’ Bucky rambled, and opened the door. ‘C’mon, Stevie! And Carter, we’ll shout if we need you.’

She nodded, still a bit surprised, but followed Bucky’s order. Bucky and Steve waited for her door to close, then they entered their apartment. Sure enough, they found Fury half sitting, half lying on one of the armchairs. Bucky shot a self-confident grin at Steve.

Fury barely told them that S.H.I.E.L.D. was compromised when two shots came through the wall and he was lying on the floor, bleeding and having difficulty breathing. Steve took the flash drive from Fury’s hand, then Bucky shouted for Carter while Steve grabbed his shield, and they both were in pursuit.

*

The shooter – Rumlow, they were sure – managed to get away. Bucky packed up his stuff, grabbed the flash drive, and set off for a safehouse he hadn’t had to use in years, and Steve went with Sharon to the hospital.

‘Why is your friend not coming with us?’ Sharon asked him in the car.

‘He’s not a fan of S.H.I.E.L.D.. Neither of us is,’ he said, then told her the short version.

By the time they arrived at the hospital, their little team had a new addition in the form of one Sharon Carter.

Hill sent Carter back to deal with the clean-up, then tried to interrogate Steve. However, they were interrupted by Romanova.

‘Who was it? The Soldier is back?’

‘No,’ Steve answered. Hill shot them a confused look. ‘The Soldier has been out since 1991.’

‘You can’t know that,’ Romanova argued. ‘He may still be working for the Russians. Who else would shoot Fury?’

Steve sighed, but didn’t correct her. Too many Hydra agents were around.

Just a few minutes later the machines started beeping, and the doctors announced Fury’s death. Hill had to go, claiming she had to take care of something important, then Rumlow walked up to Steve, telling him he was required at HQ. Steve followed him, but signed to Romanova to meet him in a few hours.

After a short chat with Secretary Pierce, a fight in the elevator, and trashing a Quinjet, Steve was back at the hospital, dragging Romanova into a small storage room.

‘What was Fury doing in your apartment?’ Romanova asked him, but he ignored the question. ‘I think I know who shot him, not many people use soviet-made slugs with no rifling.’

‘I already told you. It wasn’t the Soldier.’

‘Do you even know who he is?’

‘Yes.’

They stared at each other for a few seconds before Romanova looked away.

‘Rumlow was the shooter,’ Steve said finally. ‘He, just like half of S.H.I.E.L.D., is Hydra. They’re planning to take over, and I’ll need your help stopping them.’

Romanova’s face was a blank mask, but Steve could see the surprise in her eyes. He didn’t wait for her response, instead started to walk her out of the hospital.

*

About an hour later, they were at Sam and Riley’s place, waiting to be let in.

‘Where’s your other half?’ Riley asked Steve when he saw him. He opened the door and let them walk in.

‘In Jersey, checking out a lead at Camp Lehigh. He should be joining us soon.’

Romanova seemed wary of Sam and Riley first, but then Steve explained things to her in more detail than he could at the hospital. She took to the couple pretty easily after Sam made them a late lunch, and let it slide that they both used to be pararescue.

By nightfall, Romanova looked quite relaxed, and even helped Sam cook dinner. However, she tensed again when there was a knock on the living room window, and Steve opened it for Bucky to jump in.

‘What the hell happened to you?’ he questioned as soon as he saw Bucky was covered in dirt and dried blood.

‘They blew up the Camp. Didn’t like that I found Zola, probably wanted to silence me.’ He shook his head, dust falling out of his hair and all over the floor around him. Sam shot him a dirty look. ‘I’ll clean it up. I gotta admit though, I’m a bit disappointed, I wanted to do in that asshole myself. Oh, hey, Natalia,’ he greeted her absently as he walked into the kitchen and grabbed the orange juice.

‘What-,’ Romanova started, looking at Bucky, then at Steve, and then back at Bucky.

‘That’s Bucky,’ Steve said. ‘Though you probably knew him as the Winter Soldier,’ he added with a smug grin.

‘How did you meet him?’ Romanova asked, curiosity getting the better of her.

‘He hired me to start assassinating S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel,’ Bucky told her, taking a long sip out of the jug.

‘Man, really?’ Bucky just shrugged at Sam’s death glare.

‘I’ll drink it all, no use gettin’ a glass.’

‘Buck,’ Steve said warningly, then turned to Romanova. ‘I hired him to help me fight Hydra.’

‘Which is exactly what we’re gonna do as soon as we got these two their wings back,’ Bucky butted in, throwing the empty jug on the counter. ‘Oh, and we should probably join Fury at his little cave, could use the tech he has.’

‘Fury’s dead,’ Romanova stated, sounding a touch unsure.

‘He’s not,’ Steve corrected. ‘Hill helped him deceive Hydra. So, Fort Meade first, then we’re meetin’ Fury.’

‘I just got back from fuckin’ Jersey. I don’t care what you do, but I’m goin’ to sleep,’ Bucky interjected.

‘We should eat,’ Steve told him. ‘Then we all go to sleep. But we’re leaving before dawn.’

*

The mission went quite smoothly, which surprised both Bucky and Steve. Steve expected Hydra to be more organized, and S.H.I.E.L.D. to be in pieces, but the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were quick to respond. Bucky, on the other hand, was worried that Steve would do something really stupid. Of course, in hindsight, the smoothness at the beginning of the mission should have been a warning.

Sam and Riley started overriding the helicarriers while Steve and Bucky went after Rumlow, then joined Romanova and the World Security Council. They made quick work of uploading everything to the Internet and killing Pierce (Bucky emptied a whole clip into his chest and Steve broke his neck by throwing his shield at it).

And that was when things started to go downhill.

Sam’s wings got destroyed before he made it to the third helicarrier, and Riley had to follow him to the ground and grab him from the ring of a dozen or so Hydra goons. Hill was being attacked in the security room, and it took both Carter and Romanova to take down all the Hydra agents. Then Bucky and Steve stole a Quinjet to get on the third helicarriers.

They got to the carrier all right, and changed the card without being attacked, but then Steve told Hill, ‘Just shoot it, we’ll be fine,’ and the helicarriers began shooting at each other. Everything started blowing up around them, and their only way out was down. They jumped, trying to avoid the sharper pieces, but Steve still managed to get a metal bar lodged in his shoulder and needed Bucky to drag him to shore.

‘Rogers, you goddamn idiot,’ he grumbled, grabbing the metal with his left hand and pulling it out of Steve’s shoulder. ‘You would deserve to die from blood loss, y’know.’

‘Fuck off,’ Steve mumbled, sitting up. ‘I’ll be fine.’

‘You’d better. This battle may be over, but the war has just begun.’

Steve groaned at Bucky being so dramatic, yet he had to agree.

‘You think the earpieces still work?’ he asked Steve, but then tried to reach Hill without waiting for an answer. ‘Hey, we’re on the shore. Steve got impaled by a metal bar but he’ll be okay. You copy?’

The answer was a little shaky, but it came. ‘Yes, we copy. Got your position, we’ll be there in a minute. And tell Rogers not to move too much.’

‘Roger that,’ Bucky said with a smirk, then shot Steve a disapproving look when he tried to stand up. ‘You put your ass back on the ground, you hear me?’

‘Buck, I’m fine,’ Steve whined, but sat back down.

‘I know you’re reckless, but that was even worse than your usual stupid. You’re lucky I was here to drag you out of the water.’

‘I just trusted you to have my back, as you promised,’ Steve sassed. Bucky shook his head, then sat down next to him.

‘You are the biggest idiot I’ve ever met, and I was friends with Howard Stark.’

‘Good thing I’ve got you then,’ Steve said, laying his head on Bucky’s shoulder and letting his shoulder fix itself.

‘Til the end of the line, pal,’ Bucky told him, kissing the top of his head.

‘Til the end of the line.’

*

They all went back to Bucky’s safehouse which was actually a whole tenement house, run-down on the outside but impeccable on the inside. Fury and Hill left almost immediately, and Sharon soon had to go, helping the rest of the Special Service in the aftermath of the Hydra attack. They were joined by Barton in about an hour, though.

‘Nice of you to join the party, Clint,’ Romanova told him, barely lifting her head from where she was lying on the couch.

‘Sorry, got caught up at the Hub. Ran into an old friend or two.’

‘Coulson?’ Steve asked, sitting up a bit straighter next to Bucky. ‘Must’a been quite the surprise.’

‘How do you know that?’ Clint asked, munching on the dinner Sam and Riley made.

‘Same way I knew about Hydra. Or Laura and the kids, for that matter,’ Steve said, with a shit-eating smirk on his face. ‘I’m pretty good with computers.’

‘Better believe him,’ Bucky warned, ‘or he’ll use it against you.’

‘Nah, I’m only fuckin’ with Stark. He still hasn’t noticed I stole some of his stuff.’

‘Some? A whole closet is full of them, Stevie.’

‘Could you lovebirds quit the bickering for a minute?’ Sam interrupted. ‘Riley and I are heading home. You’re welcome to visit whenever you’re in D.C. We’ll do the same if we’re ever in NYC. And if you need some help, well, I don’t wanna be your first choice. Oh, and Barnes, you owe me a pair of wings.’

‘You got it, Sammy. Shouldn’t take long, getting the blueprints and everything.’ Bucky smirked at him, then nudged Steve to get up. They both hugged Sam and Riley, who then left to go home.

‘Why did Wilson call you lovebirds?’ Romanova inquired.

‘What kind of spy are you, Natalia, if you have to ask that?’ Bucky grinned at him, sitting back down next to Steve and interlacing their fingers.

‘I use Natasha now,’ was all she answered, with a cat-that-caught-the-canary smile on her face.

‘Okay, so Cap is good with modern technology and has a boyfriend. I think I’mma go crash for the night,’ Clint said, walking into one of the rooms and throwing himself on the bed.

‘I’ll go too,’ Natasha told them, following Clint into the room. ‘Night, boys.’

Bucky rolled his eyes, but both he and Steve said good night to Natasha. They heard her fumbling around for a few minutes, and then everything fell silent.

‘We should probably head to bed too,’ Steve mumbled. ‘Got some Hydra asshole to hunt tomorrow.’

‘No, we gotta get back to New York tomorrow. Get an apartment, settle in, let you heal,’ Bucky shot Steve a glare, ‘and then we can talk about hunting down each and every Hydra agent.’

‘Get an apartment?’ Steve mused.

‘Yours was compromised, and mine is too small for the both of us. It will do for a few weeks, while we’re apartment hunting, but not an option in the long run.’

Steve grinned at him, slouching down on the couch.

‘Hey, no, bed. C’mon, don’t make me carry you.’

‘Fine, fine.’ Steve pulled himself up, grabbing Bucky’s hand and dragging him to their room. They changed into pajamas, then snuggled together under the blankets. ‘Love you, Buck.’

‘Love you too, Stevie.’

**Author's Note:**

> Just a few things:  
> (1) Zima (Зима) means Winter in Russian, that's why Bucky calls himself that at the beginning.  
> (2) Bucky knew Howard during the war, and when he was sent to kill him, he recognized him. Howard helped him get better, Hydra didn't get the serum, and Howard and Maria Stark both died of old age.  
> (3) Riley wasn't hit when they fired an RPG at him, just his wings were ruined. He could safely land, and after that mission he and Sam decided it wasn't worth it for them anymore, and they got out.  
> (4) At the end, when Sam tell Bucky he owes him a new pair of wings, Bucky plans to make them himself. He was friends with Howard and he learnt some tricks from him.
> 
> If I forgot anything (either something that needs explaining or just in the tags), let me know.  
> I hope you enjoyed!


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